Gap Year Experiences

Some Lions History

Tuesday 29 July 2008

With plans being finalised for what promises to be an epic British Lions Tour to South Africa next year I thought I'd do some research into the history of the tours. The overall score between the Lions and the Springboks is as follows:
12 Tours played, Lions 5 wins, Draws 1 and Springboks 6 wins.
Details are below:

Year	Captain	Head Coach	Matches	Won	Lost	Result	Score
1891	Bill MacLagen	Edwin Ash	20	20	0	Won	3 - 0
1896	Johnny Hammond	R. Walker	21	19	1	Won	3 - 1
1903	Mark Morrison	Johnny Hammond	22	11	8	Won	0 - 1 (2 Draws)
1910	Dr Tom Smythe	W. Cail & Walter E. Rees	24	13	8	Lost	1 - 2
1924	Ronald Cove-Smith	Harry Packer	21	9	9	Lost	0 - 3 (1 Draw)
1938	Sam Walker	Col. B.C. Hartley	24	17	7	Lost	1 - 2
1955	Robin Thompson		25	19	5	Drew	2 - 2
1962	Arthur Smith		25	16	5	Lost	0 - 3 (1 Draw)
1968	Tom Kiernan	Ronnie Dawson	20	15	4	Lost	0 - 3 (1 Draw)
1974	Willie John McBride	Syd Millar	22	21	0	Won	3 - 0 (1 Draw)
1980	Bill Beaumont	Noel Murphy	18	15	3	Lost	1 - 3
1997	Martin Johnson	Ian McGeechan	11	9	2	Won	2 - 1

Here's hoping for another South African victory, I personally can't wait!

Cheers....

Vince